II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1117 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand the authority of the 

Secretary of Veterans Affairs to remove senior executives of the Department of Veterans Affairs for performance or misconduct to include removal of certain other employees of the Department, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 28, 2015 

Mr. JOHNSON (for himself, Mr. PERDUE, Mr. LEE, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. DAINES, 

Mr. FLAKE, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. TOOMEY, Ms. 

COLLINS, Mr. VITTER, and Mr. MCCAIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to remove 

senior executives of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

for performance or misconduct to include removal of 

certain other employees of the Department, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Veteran 

5 Safety Through Accountability Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF VET2 ERANS AFFAIRS TO REMOVE SENIOR EXECU3 TIVES OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF4 FAIRS FOR PERFORMANCE OR MISCONDUCT 

5 TO INCLUDE CERTAIN OTHER EMPLOYEES 

6 OF THE DEPARTMENT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 713 of title 38, United 

8 States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

11 (i) in the matter before subparagraph 

12 (A), in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘sen13 ior executive position’’ both places it ap14 pears and inserting ‘‘covered position’’; 

15 and 

16 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

17 ‘‘in paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘in para18 graph (3) employed in a senior executive 

19 position at the Department’’; 

20 (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

21 paragraph (3); and 

22 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

23 following new paragraph (2): 

24 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this section, a covered position 

25 is— 

26 ‘‘(A) a senior executive position; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) a position listed in section 7401 of this 

2 title that is not a senior executive position.’’; 

3 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘under sub4 section (a)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘under subsection 

5 (a)(1)(B)’’; 

6 (3) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘senior execu7 tive position’’ and inserting ‘‘covered position’’; 

8 (4) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘The pro9 cedures under section 7543(b) of title 5’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘Sections 7461(b) and 7462 of this title and 

11 sections 7503, 7513, and 7543(b) of title 5’’; and 

12 (5) in subsection (g)(1)— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

14 at the end; 

15 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 

16 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

17 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

18 subparagraph: 

19 ‘‘(C) an employee of the Department em20 ployed on a full-time basis under a permanent 

21 appointment in a position listed in section 7401 

22 of this title (other than interns and residents 

23 appointed pursuant to section 7406 of this title) 

24 who is not in a senior executive position.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Subchapter V of 

2 chapter 74 of such title is amended— 

3 (1) in section 7461(b)(1), by striking ‘‘If the’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in sections 713 of 

5 this title, if the’’; and 

6 (2) in section 7462— 

7 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘Dis8 ciplinary’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 

9 section 713 of this title, the Disciplinary’’; and 

10 (B) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘In 

11 any case’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 

12 section 713 of this title, in any case’’. 

13 (c) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—Section 713 of such 

14 title is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (a)(1), in the first sentence, 

16 by striking ‘‘of Veterans Affairs’’; and 

17 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘Committees 

18 on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of 

19 Representatives’’ and inserting ‘‘Committee on Vet20 erans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

21 Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives’’. 

22 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.— 

23 (1) SECTION HEADING.—The heading for sec24 tion 713 of such title is amended by striking ‘‘Sen25 ior executives: removal based on perVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 May 07, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1117.IS S1117

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1 formance or misconduct’’ and inserting ‘‘Re2 moval of senior executives and certain 

3 other employees based on performance or 

4 misconduct’’. 

5 (2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections 

6 at the beginning of chapter 7 of such title is amend7 ed by striking the item relating to section 713 and 

8 inserting the following new item: 

‘‘713. Removal of senior executives and certain other employees based on performance or misconduct.’’. 

Æ 


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